1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing rod holders generally and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a novel fishing rod holder assembly and method of use that are safe and convenient.
2. Background Art
Fishing rod holders of the type under consideration herein typically have an open top cylinder with a spike coaxially aligned with the cylinder and removably or fixedly attached to the closed end of the cylinder. One uses the holder by inserting the sharp end of the spike into a substrate, such as the bank of a river, and then inserting the handle end of a fishing rod, or pole, into the cylinder for support of the fishing rod at an angle with respect to the substrate.
One disadvantage of the type of holder with a fixed spike is that sharp end of the spike is exposed when the holder is not in use and presents a safety hazard. The type of holder with a removable spike suffers from the same disadvantage but, in addition, has the further disadvantage that the spike may become separated from the cylinder and lost when the holder is not in use.
One approach to partially solving this problem is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,534, issued Apr. 21, 1987, to McLean, and titled FISHING POLE HOLDER DEVICE. The holder therein described is of the type having a removable spike. In this case, the spike is nail-like, with a head formed opposite the sharp end so that the spike can be driven into a substrate, such as ice, with a hard object, such as a hammer. A threaded collar is loosely disposed on the spike and is used to engage the head end to threadingly attach the spike to the closed end of the cylinder. When the holder is not in use, the spike is unscrewed, the head end of the spike is inserted into the open end of the cylinder and threadingly attached to the bottom end of the cylinder. This has the advantage of shortening the overall length of the device, but still has the disadvantage of having the sharp end of the spike protruding from the open end of the cylinder. Some length of the sharp end of the spike must protrude so that the spike can be manually grasped to insert or unscrew the spike.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a fishing rod holding assembly in which no sharp ends are exposed when the fishing pole holding assembly is not in use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a fishing rod holding assembly that is easy to use.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide such a fishing rod holding assembly that is economical to manufacture.
Other objects of the present invention, as well as particular features, elements, and advantages thereof, will be elucidated in, or be apparent from, the following description and the accompanying drawing figures.